This invention relates to an illumination means in which the light is concentrated and directed into a narrow band of illumination and which can be used for a copy machine or other reproduction machine.
In the process of electrographic reproduction it is desirable to have a uniform field of illumination incident from opposing directions upon the area to be illuminated so as to eliminate shadows in the resulting copies. The utilization of multiple light sources will provide this uniformity, however it does so at the expense of increased complexity and increased cost. It is thus desirable to provide a uniform field of illumination utilizing a single light source. This can be partially accomplished by the placement of light reflectors to direct the light emerging from the single light source such that it is simultaneously incident from opposing directions at the area to be illuminated. When the light is reflected by these reflectors however, it suffers transmission losses in the range of 10 to 20%, resulting in a decrease of its energy. Since the reflected light has less energy than the light passing directly from the light source to the area to be illuminated, there is an imbalance in the uniformity in the field of illumination. This imbalance will cause shadows in the resulting copy.